Justin's Updates

Justin added 'Warriors of the Storm'

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 19:21:44 -0700

Justin gave 4 stars to Warriors of the Storm (The Saxon Stories, #9) by Bernard Cornwell
bookshelves: historic-fiction

Justin is 32% done with The Templars

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 15:43:35 -0700

Justin is 32% done with The Templars.

Justin added 'The Honour of Rome'

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 15:31:50 -0700

Justin gave 5 stars to The Honour of Rome (Eagles of the Empire, #20) by Simon Scarrow
bookshelves: historic-fiction
Alternate title: Yojimbus in Londunium.

This book has all the hallmarks of Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" or the Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars." Macro stands in the place of Clint Eastwood's character who wanders into town. He is stuck between two rival gangs. On top of that, the local Celtic tribes are agitating against the latest Roman policies. Who should turn up to help? Cato and his new lover Claudia (See The Emperor's Exile). And who else is town with some additional muscle? Boudica (See When the Eagle Hunts) who had a prior relationship with Macro and her husband Prasutagus.

In a knock down, dirty fight, Cato and team, but mostly Macro, take the fight to the enemy. Cato is then "ordered" / volunt-told to join the expedition west under Governor Paulinus.

Justin added 'The Honour of Rome'

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 13:53:09 -0700

Justin gave 5 stars to The Honour of Rome (Eagle #20) by Simon Scarrow
bookshelves: historic-fiction
Yojimbus in Londunium

An alternate title could have been A Fistful of Sestercii... Macro wants a quiet but rich retirement in Britainnia after 25 years of faithful service. Unfortunately he runs afoul of two rival gangs and almost loses his life. At the same time, who is coming to help? Cato, of course, but he has a problem of his own. Together they solve the problems in a way that highly reminds the reader of Kurosawa's Yojimbo or Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars.

Justin is currently reading 'Monroe Doctrine: Volume V'

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 12:55:37 -0700

Justin is currently reading Monroe Doctrine: Volume V by James Rosone

Justin added 'The Emperor's Exile'

Sun, 20 Apr 2025 22:35:51 -0700

Justin gave 5 stars to The Emperor's Exile (Eagles of the Empire, #19) by Simon Scarrow
bookshelves: historic-fiction
This book is for 2021!

Cato and Macro are separated for the first time; Macro is going to Britannia with his new wife Petronella to live with Macro's mother. He has chosen his discharge and grew his backpay because it is time. Cato, however, must stay in Rome and deal with the fallout from the failed campaigns in Armenia and Parthia. He finds himself relieved of command of the Second Cohort and sent to escort one of Nero's former mistresses to her exile in Sardinia. In addition to escorting Claudia Acte, Cato is also given orders to put down the insurrection in the south of the island. If that wasn't bad enough, a plague had broken out.

I found this funny because we have a weakling in the White House (sorry, I should have said the Capitoline), a plague, and civil unrest (AntiFa's ancestors). As Cato's new associate/spy Apollonius asked Cato: "How far can a good man succeed in a corrupt world? I'd like to know the answer to that."

Scarrow does his homework and tries to be as historically accurate while taking some artistic license to tell a story. Thus, you cannot really accuse Scarrow of using allegory. However, he does stray into alternate history. He did that in Eagles in the Sand and now this one. If you read the actual history of Claudia Acte, her fate and backstory is different enough that you have to wonder whether there are two different Claudia Actes.

This one has much more Cato and very little Macro so it is a different dynamic. Still worth reading and I finished this in 3 days.

Justin added 'The Hundred'

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:12:57 -0700

Justin gave 5 stars to The Hundred (Galaxy's Edge: Savage Wars, #3) by Jason Anspach
bookshelves: scif-fi
One Hundred Men Will Test Today...

The Hundred concludes the Savage Wars prequel trilogy. We also see the origin of Aeson Ford and how he is immortal like Rechs and Sulla. This book also includes the fates of several major characters introduced in the first Savage Wars prequel. Action packed to the end.

Justin wants to read 'Iron Wolves'

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 23:37:04 -0700

Justin wants to read Iron Wolves by Jonathan Yanez

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Tue, 15 Apr 2025 23:35:19 -0700

Justin added 'Gods & Legionnaires'

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 13:36:11 -0700

Justin gave 4 stars to Gods & Legionnaires (Galaxy's Edge: Savage Wars, #2) by Jason Anspach
The first two thirds of this book was hard to read at times since it is a stream of consciousness for the Savage character Chrometheus. He was once a rock star on Earth with the stage name Billy Bang. He did drugs and slept with fellow actresses and groupies. Now as a "Savage" or Uplifted with the goal of being gods and goddess, Crometheus and his fellow Uplifted wage a war of extermination against the humans. That's the gist. Where it is hard is that we don't know what part of the events are his memories as a Savage, what part are memories and dreams, and what part is his refuge from the insanity. At times, he thinks he is playing an arcade game circa 1990s which he thinks is reality.

Chrometheus appears in other books in the series and each time he uses his experiences in the arcade as his "reality." Like Imperator which is the same type of narrative for Admiral Casper Sullivan who would one day be Goth Sullus, you have to wonder how drunk or high you have to be to understand this. Or wonder how high or drunk the authors were. Ultimately, any human who tries to be god often goes insane.

The other "half" is the Legionnaires portion, except based on proportionality, this is only 30%. This part reads like any other book on special forces Selection or Q course or whatever name you want. Hundreds of candidates try. Most fail for various reasons - they just couldn't handle physically and mentally. Those who pass it become even stronger, faster, and mentally strong. Sullivan is the POV and when the washouts and quitters appear, the admiral still treats them like soldiers. He converts them into the necessary support force to the Legion.

This book is chronologically the place where "Aeson Ford" aka Aeson Keel aka the Wraith appears. In terms of publication order, Ford is an established character several hundreds of years in the future. Why he is alive in the Savage Wars is a mystery until the truth is revealed elsewhere.

As a prequel, Anspach and Cole are trying to introduce as many integral background elements as possible. The famed L-comm, the unbreakable Legion communications channel, is introduced here as another Savage tech. This and more. Maybe the prequel bandwagon and origin stories has left the station.